Teach Paws b Training

Developing teaching and Learning Paws b
The core development team and pupils from Ysgol Pen Y Bryn share their experiences of Paws b

Paws b is a three day teaching training course which prepares participants who have met the prerequisites to teach mindfulness to 7-11 year olds. The course consists of real-time lessons, pedagogy sessions, discussion groups and opportunities to practise guiding the Paws b exercises with each other.

Our hope for this course is threefold: to equip participants with the materials and understanding of the curriculum to be able to begin teaching the lessons straight away, to continue to support the development of personal mindfulness practice, and to encourage the development of a sense of community amongst participants.

At the end of the course, participants will hopefully feel confident and ready to teach the lessons to young people. Participants will leave as part of a wider network of Paws b teachers, supported by Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP), and with access to the following materials via the MiSP website.

Student Booklet

“How to teach Paws b” Booklet

Teacher’s Notes on each lesson

PowerPoint slideshow of each lesson

An introductory PowerPoint presentation for colleagues

Attendance on this course qualifies participants to a period of complimentary membership of the Teachers’ Network on the website. This gives access to all materials, listing on the Paws b teacher map, use of a forum and other features. Thereafter an optional £90 annual membership fee is due to continue to have access to the Teachers’ Network and any updated materials.

PLEASE NOTE: Paws b should not be taught as a public course, ie publicly advertised and taking place outside the context of a school, sports club or other educational or youth-related organisations. Please contact us if you have any questions about this or go the FAQ page for more information.

Paws b lesson in action at Ysgol Pen Y Bryn. Here’s the report that was shown on ITV Wales. Click here to watch.

What are the prerequisites to teach Paws b?

Mindfulness in Schools Project’s Paws b curriculum, as with all the main mindfulness programmes, is expected to be taught only by those who regularly practise mindfulness themselves. Teachers are required to have done at least the equivalent of an 8-week training course in mindfulness such as our 8-week .b Foundations course, or Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR)/Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)/ Mindfulness-based Living Programme (MBLP), as well as practising mindfulness themselves on a regular basis for 6 months following the end of the 8 week course. Please see our formal list of prerequisites for full details.

Do you offer free places on courses?

MiSP is now a registered charity and so able to offer a limited number of free and discounted places on our courses to teachers working in UK schools depending on the number of pupils in the school who receive Pupil Premium Funding. Please contact charityteam@mindfulnessinschools.org to learn more about this offer and to register your interest.